Rural group backs UK Post Office closure plan

Plans for the reorganisation of the rural postal system that include the closure of 2,500 post offices have been welcomed by a group of rural campaigners.

The plans were announced to Parliament before Christmas by trade and industry secretary Alistair Darling. He said the restructuring was needed “to protect the national network”.

He said a GBP1.7 billion support package would be provided to maintain GBP150 million-a-year payments to the rural post office network until 2011. In addition, up to 4,000 fee-free cash machines will be rolled out to help customers in areas hit by the closures, he said.

To offset the closures, he said the Post Office would set up 500 “innovative outlets” for small, remote communities, including “mobile post offices and services in village halls, community centres and pubs”.

Sylvia Brown, chief executive of Action for Communities in Rural England, said the present system of post office support was unsustainable. She said: “We want the post office subsidy transformed into a contribution towards a genuine investment plan to help retain access to a range of services within rural communities.

“We are pleased that the minister recognises the future of post office services may lie in combined delivery with pubs, shops or village halls hosting services and sharing premises to reduce overheads.”

In a surprise move, Darling also announced the retention of a basic Post Office-run bank account through which people can receive pensions, benefits and tax credits.

While the Post Office Card Account is considered limited in scope, more than 4.7 million people have opened one, including many from vulnerable rural communities.

However, other rural campaigners criticised the plans. Tom Oliver, head of
rural policy at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said that slashing the number of rural post offices would hit “thousands of vulnerable rural customers” and contradicted the Government’s stance on sustainability.

The announcement came after a report from think-tank the New Economics Foundation attempted to quantify the contribution that urban post offices make to deprived communities.

Based on a study of Manchester post offices, the report claims that for every GBP10 a post office earns, it generates GBP16.20 for the local economy (R&R, 15 December, p5).

– Last Post: The Social and Economic Impact of Changes to Postal Services in Manchester is available via www.regen.net/doc
THE PROPOSED CRITERIA FOR POST OFFICE LOCATION
– Nationally, 99 per cent of the population should live within three miles and 90 per cent within a mile of a post office (PO).
– In deprived urban areas, 99 per cent of the population should live within a mile of a PO.
– In urban areas, 95 per cent of people should live within a mile of a PO.
– In rural areas, 95 per cent of people should live within three miles of a PO.
– In remote areas, 95 per cent of the population in each postcode district should live within six miles of a PO.